An Isaac Newton Institute Workshop

Theory and Applications of Coupled Cell Networks

Interaction of economic agents and coupled cell systems

Author: Sofia Castro
(Faculdade de Economia and Centro de Matemática, Universidade do Porto)

Abstract

Application of coupled cell systems have been made to a wide range of problems in the physical and biological sciences. Recent developments in the study of coupled cell systems include the description of possible synchronous states in networks with many cells.

One of the open problems in economics, which has been solved in a wide variety of specific contexts, concerns the quest for a price which clears (i.e., supply equals demand) the markets. One of the difficulties is closely related to the vast number of agents and goods in any realistic formulation of the problem.

We propose the use of coupled cell systems as a useful tool to, at least partly, overcome the difficulties in dealing with many agents or goods. This will raise questions concerning non-synchronous solutions, that is, synchrony-breaking bifurcation for coupled cell systems.

We shall illustrate our point with a simple example using well-known results in coupled cell systems.